For A Good Cause
by SteelCityMagnolia
Summary: Alex asks Gage to help her with a charity event, causing Sydney to deal with some unexpected jealousy and her feelings for Gage. Some well-meaning friends step in to help her out along the way.


**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Walker, Texas Ranger characters within this story, nor is any ownership implied. Just having a little fun.**

 _ **Author's Note: I was inspired by a story on this site from many years ago about another bachelor auction. I thought it might be fun to explore that avenue a bit more and see what might happen if things didn't quite go quite as smoothly as the original story went, especially since it was such a fun idea and I could definitely see Gage having a lot of fun with it while Sydney thought completely otherwise. I credit TRVikki with the original idea and hope she doesn't mind that I took her idea out to play, but only in a bit of a different direction. Enjoy!**_

"Gage, could I talk to you a second?" Alex Cahill-Walker stopped in front of the blond Ranger's desk and caught his attention.

"This weekend is the Dallas Charity Works gala and I need your help to raise some money for the HOPE Center. We're doing something new this year and you'll be just perfect for it."

Gage looked up at Alex, wondering what his friend had in mind as she went on.

"I was hoping you'd like to participate in our first ever bachelor auction."

At the desk across the aisle, Gage's partner let out an audible snort. "Oh, come on, Alex! Do you really want to create that kind of monster?" Sydney Cooke rolled her eyes and looked at her partner, who was obviously taking the bait for this meat market hustle, hook, line, and sinker.

"Hey, Shorty, there are lots of women in this city who would pay good money to go out with me," Gage teased.

"Yeah, and if they have to pay you to go out with you, we could have them all booked and lined up for court in no time. That sort of thing has a name and it is illegal, you know!" Sydney teased right back.

"Oh, you two!" Alex shook her blond hair with exasperation. "So, Gage? Are you in? Can I count on you?"

"Oh, I'm in, alright," he replied as he shot an ornery grin at his partner.

While Sydney was looking forward to the charity gala, that Saturday found her in a mixed up mood. She was excited about the new dress and shoes she bought, and about meeting up with Alex and Erica to get their hair and nails done for the evening. Gage had all but driven her crazy the last couple of days talking about that damn auction and wondering who might bid on him and how much money he'd bring in for the HOPE Center. Sydney tried to put the thought out of her mind or remind herself that it was for a good cause when she did think about it, but the truth was it bothered her, and it bothered her a lot. Somebody was going to bid on her partner and he was going to take that somebody out on a date and spend time with her, a date and time that Sydney wanted for herself. If only she could come to terms with her feelings for her partner and tell him how she felt, maybe he wouldn't be participating in this ridiculous meat market sale.

After dinner and the first round of raffles, the emcee called for the lights to dim and the spotlight and everyone's attention to be directed to the stage. He read off a few rules and reminded the ladies in the audience that volunteers would be walking through the audience all during the auction with auction paddles for sale should they get the urge to bid on any of the eligible bachelors up for grabs during the bidding action. His innuendo didn't go unnoticed and squeals and giggles filled the room. Even Alex and Erica giggled like schoolgirls, even though their husbands were sitting right next to them. Sydney turned in her chair to face the stage, rested her arms on the back of her seat and tried to ignore the twinge of jealousy she felt inside. "What is wrong with you?" she chastised herself, "why are you getting so worked up over some ridiculous auction? It's for a good cause." She kept reminding herself how hard Alex worked for the HOPE Center and how proud she was of her friend, but that nagging twinge was still there.

Bidding for the first four bachelors topped out at only a couple hundred dollars each as the ladies in the crowd seemed slow to catch on to how to bid, or maybe they were just holding out. The fifth one, a well-known doctor, raised close to a thousand dollars. Erica and Alex squealed in delight and Sydney had to admit, he was quite handsome and the money was going to a good cause. The sixth bachelor was the son of a wealthy cattle rancher who was also famous on the pro rodeo tour. A bidding war started and he raised a thousand dollars in just a few quick minutes before his winning bidder won him with a bid of twelve hundred dollars. The room broke out in a roar of applause.

"And up next, ladies, lucky, lucky number seven!" The emcee was teasing. "He's tall, blond, and handsome, thirty-four years old, and works in the Dallas area in law enforcement. If you're a damsel in distress, he'll be sure to rescue you! Let us introduce you to bachelor number seven, raising money for the Dallas HOPE Center, Francis Gage!"

Sydney nearly choked on the sip of wine she was taking. On the screen on stage, several photos of her partner flashed by: photos of him on his motorcycle, some taken at Walker's ranch, a few of him dressed up in a suit, and one of him shirtless that elicited screams of delight from the women in the audience. When the photo montage ended, her partner walked, no, strutted out onstage to the cheers and applause of the women in the audience, exuding an aura of confidence and sexiness that made Sydney catch her breath. She knew her partner was handsome, but had he always been that drop-dead gorgeous? In a black tux and bowtie, he was stunning and Sydney was shaken by her emotions: desire, jealousy, love. All at once, all competing for attention in her mind and heart.

Behind her, Erica and Alex were applauding. "Do you see this nonsense? Can you believe this?" Sydney heard Trivette ask Walker and Walker's reply "I see it, and I don't believe it."

On stage, Gage was playing to the room, strutting and turning around like he was a model on a catwalk. He took his tuxedo jacket off, swung it over his shoulder, and loosened his bowtie, making the women in the audience swoon. When he neared the edge of the stage, a woman reached up and tucked a dollar in his waistband.

"Oh, good Lord, if that doesn't make a girl want to throw up." Sydney thought to herself, doing a mental eye-roll at the over-the-top gesture. She looked over at Erica, who smiled back at her.

"He certainly looks like he's having a good time," Erica said, trying to coax a smile out of her friend.

"Oh, he's having the time of his life, alright," Syd replied in disgust. "Just the absolute time of his life."

"Well, ladies? Where do we start the bidding? Fifty? One hundred?" The emcee teased and taunted and a fierce bidding war started. Sydney rested her forehead on the heel of her hand as the bids and squeals raised and swirled around her. A volunteer walked by with a tray of paddles and she jumped up, grabbed a paddle off the tray and threw the money for the paddle at the young woman. By then, the bidding was up to $500 and she raised her paddle and was acknowledged. She was now in the bidding war.

"Holy crap!" Trivette punched Walker on the arm and pointed Sydney's way as Alex and Erica cheered her on.

"This ought to be good," Walker chuckled, as he and his partner settled back in their chairs to watch the young female Ranger throw herself into the bidding action.

The bidding grew even more fierce and Sydney kept at it. She was all in for her rent money and car payment for the month and was seriously wondering what the hell she was doing. Was she bidding only out of jealousy?

Now the bidding was over a thousand dollars and it was just Sydney, a tall, leggy blonde, and a busty redhead upping the stakes on each bid. On stage, Gage was eating up the attention. He could see two bidders – a blond and a redhead, but the third one was far back in the room and he couldn't see her. She looked to be sitting at the table next to theirs. Damn, he wished he'd paid attention to who was at that table!

Over twelve hundred dollars, more than the rodeo cowboy. "Crap," Sydney thought. "I'm out." She dropped her paddle dejectedly as the emcee asked for thirteen hundred dollars to top the leggy blonde's bid. As Syd slowly turned her back toward the stage, Erica grabbed her paddle and waved it in the air and yelled "Thirteen hundred, right here!"

"Erica! What are you doing? I'm done, I can't afford it."

"Oh, honey, "Erica smiled warmly at her friend. "Jimmy and I were planning to make a donation to the HOPE Center tonight. You can add our donation to your bid. So you keep bidding, I have five hundred dollars here that's going to win you a date with that man."

Sydney looked confused as Alex, overhearing the conversation, grabbed the paddle and continued Sydney's bid, raising the stakes to thirteen hundred seventy five dollars.

"Syd, we all know you love Gage even if you don't know it yourself. We watched you do a slow burn all week over him being in this bachelor auction and honey, you're not jealous, you are in love and no way are we going to let anyone else date your man." Erica explained as she thrust the paddle back into Sydney's hands. "Now, win yourself a date with that man, girlfriend."

Sydney and the blonde continued bidding until the blond stopped after Sydney's bid of fifteen hundred and fifty dollars. On stage, Gage ran his hands through his hair, stunned. Somebody had just bid over fifteen hundred dollars on him! He could only imagine Sydney's reaction, and after a week of her being in a sour mood over this auction, he couldn't wait to tease her about how much somebody had bid on him!

The emcee was just prancing with excitement! Nobody had expected a bid so high on any of the bachelors. He asked the winning bidder to see the gala volunteers to make her payment and collect her bachelor at the back of the room. Erica hurriedly wrote the donation check she promised and handed it to Sydney as she pulled her from her seat and pushed her toward the direction of the volunteers' table.

Gage left the stage and headed to the back of the room. As he neared the volunteers' table, his heart jumped. Standing there looking back at him with a bidding paddle in her hand was his partner.

"Syd? What are you doing back here?" Gage greeted her tentatively.

"Just paying up for my auction bid," Syd answered nonchalantly, like bidding on bachelors was an everyday thing for her.

"You were my winning bidder?" He asked hopefully.

"I guess you could say it sort of all worked out that way," Sydney replied, looking up at him with those huge beautiful eyes and a smile that melted Gage's heart.

"How? I mean, all that money, Syd? Where did you? Why did…" Gage's voice trailed off as he couldn't think of what question to ask first.

"Well, it was for a good cause, and besides, I couldn't let either of those other two women win," Sydney replied coyly.

Gage laughed. He knew his partner and he knew just how competitive she was, yet he still couldn't believe his luck, or that Sydney was actually the winning bidder. "Of course not. So, where do you want to go on our date?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. He tilted her face up to him and bent to kiss her, softly at first but she wrapped her arms tight around his neck and kissed him back harder, responding with so much passion and desire that his knees felt weak and he was sure she could feel his heart pounding in his chest. That was definitely a real kiss, and she was right. There was a difference.

"Well, considering I just spent all my rent money and will probably get kicked out of my apartment, I'm going to need a place to stay," Sydney teased, looking into those ocean blue eyes she loved so much. "Let's start with you taking me home."


End file.
